SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team was back in action on Friday evening competing on the road in the Liberty League semifinals at Skidmore College. It turned out to be an exciting affair as Skidmore hit a 3-pointer with under 20 seconds left that sent the game to overtime where they were able to outscore the Bombers 9-5 to capture the 66-62 victory.

Both teams came out scoring with Anya Watkins knocking down one from the line and Jillian Payne converting on driving layup to put the score at 4-3 in favor of the Thoroughbreds. Becca Horger hit a jumper, but IC was able to match it on the other end of the floor with Watkins scoring on a layup that made it 6-5 with 7:17 left in the quarter. Both defenses locked it down for the next several minutes, but June Dickson hit a big 3-pointer that put Ithaca back up 8-6 with under four minutes. Zoraida Icabalceta got into the fun hitting a trey of her own that gave the edge back to Ithaca at 11-10 and Dickson knocked down another jumper down the stretch as Ithaca carried a 13-10 lead into the second quarter.

Skidmore opened on an 8-2 run over the first five minutes as IC finally got back on the board with a pull up jumper in the paint from June Dickson, but the Thoroughbreds matched it on the other side of the floor with a Cassie Davidson layup and Emmy Plage free throw out of a media timeout that stretched their lead to 21-17. The Bombers got hot from distance with Hannah Polce sparking a mini run to close the half that saw another trey hit by Zoraida Icabalceta, and jumpers from June Dickson and Icabalceta. Skidmore went into the halftime break with a 29-28 lead.

Camryn Coffey opened the second half with a layup that was assisted by Anya Watkins. The Bombers got cold from the field as they were held scoreless while Skidmore got up 36-30 before Camryn Coffey knocked down a 3-pointer at 5:15 that was assisted by Tori Drevna. The teams then traded baskets for the next couple of minutes as Coffey scored on another jumper that cut the deficit to one at 42-41 with two minutes left. Skidmore was able to make the most of a pair of second chance opportunities down the stretch but in the closing seconds Zoraida Icabalceta was running in the fast break and tagged in a buzzer beater that had the score deadlocked at 45 points apiece.

Dickson stayed hot and opened the fourth quarter knocking down a 3-pointer and two straight offensive rebounds by IC led to Anya Watkins getting fouled where she hit on 1-of-2 to extend the Bombers lead to 49-45. Ithaca continued to play stingy defense with Icabalceta forcing a Thoroughbred turnover and June Dickson knocked down a pair at the 6:06 mark to extend the lead to six (51-45). Skidmore responded with a 7-0 run that was capped off with a buzzer beating Andi Levitz 3-pointer giving them the 52-51 lead with 4:14 remaining. Anya Watkins got the Bombers the lead back with a good layup, but Cassie Davidson hit a pullup jumper with 1:11 left at Skidmore took a timeout. Out of the break, senior Hannah Polce came up clutch with a runner putting her team up 55-54 and the IC defense came up big forcing two stops on the ensuing possession. Zoraida Icabalceta converted on both of her free throw attempts after being fouled and Skidmore's Andi Levitz hit a 28-foot bank shot with 16 seconds that ended up sending the game to overtime.

The five-minute overtime period began with the Thoroughbreds scoring on their first possession and Ithaca was able to tie it back up at 59-59 with Zoraida Icabalceta converting on a tough bucket. Julia Blanck fought through the contact and her layup put Skidmore up 61-59, but she missed from the free throw line. The Bombers had a chance to answer calling a timeout with 46 seconds, but the Thoroughbreds forced Icabalceta into an offensive foul. Skidmore hit on three of its next four free throws as Icabalceta brought it to a 64-62 with pull up trey, but it wasn't enough as Skidmore ended up knocking down two more free throws for the 66-62 final. Both June Dickson and Zoraida Icabalceta each finished with 17 points apiece as the Bombers shot 24-of-58 (41.4%) from the floor and knocked down 8-of-16 from downtown.

With the loss, Ithaca College fall to 21-5 overall and Skidmore improves to 22-4 and will advance to the Liberty League Championship where they will face either Vassar or Union on Sunday, February 25.